


something so tragic about you (something so magic about you)

by DJBeepBoop



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Chronic Pain, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Taako (The Adventure Zone), Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, all the relationships are p minor tbh, but have this anyway!, but i may never end up doing that, i guess?, i love all of these characters SO MUCH listen to me scream, our boy rlly went thru it, this is meant to be the setup for a fic i wanna write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJBeepBoop/pseuds/DJBeepBoop
Summary: It’s over, and it feels like Taako is truly breathing for the first time in a decade. His knees ache, his back aches, his head hurts more than he can ever remember it hurting in his 214 years of life. But the air tastes fresh in his lungs despite the ash, and he’s looking at his sister’s face again (skeletal though it may be).It feels like he can’t do anything but stand, and breathe, and stare.Then he’s keeling over.--taako had a HELL of a couple days, there. The fallout, and the rebuilding.
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Taako, Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone), Ren & Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 154





	something so tragic about you (something so magic about you)

**Author's Note:**

> this was both written and beta read at 2am on two different nights so sorry if it's bad i guess?

It’s over, and it feels like Taako is truly breathing for the first time in a decade. His knees ache, his back aches, his head hurts more than he can ever remember it hurting in his 214 years of life. But the air tastes fresh in his lungs despite the ash, and he’s looking at his sister’s face again (skeletal though it may be).

It feels like he can’t do anything but stand, and breathe, and  _ stare. _

Then he’s keeling over. 

“-ko? Taako!” He hears a whump, and vaguely recognises that Lup managed to somehow drag Magnus towards him, as he topples.

When he wakes up again, he’s on his couch, back on the HQ (no matter what Magnus and Merle say about shared space,  _ he _ picked out the couch, so it’s  _ his couch _ ). He’s propped up against Kravitz, whose head is deadweight against his own and  _ huh, so he does sleep. _ His legs are curled to the side, where Angus has tucked himself between them, the back of the couch, and a drooling Magnus, who Taako is currently using as a footrest. Merle is spread eagle on the floor, his kids curled on either arm, snoring like everyone else in the room has earplugs. Tucked into their armchair is Lucretia, arms wrapped around her knees, and Taako can’t tell whether she’s asleep or trying to, as her breathing is still ragged. Taako’s eyebrows crease with worry like he isn’t still beyond furious at her. Like he wouldn't be sick at the sight of her if he wasn't so exhausted. Davenport is passed out leaning against the side of the chair, on the floor. Carey is wrapped up in Killian’s lap on their loveseat. He thinks he sees Avi's hair pooling on the floor on the other side of it, but in the din of the room he can't be certain.

Barry and Lup are somehow entangled on the floor below where Taako is lying, and he can’t say he’s surprised. 

He breathes a sigh, whether out of contentment, relief, frustration or what, he doesn’t know. At the sound, Lup shifts slightly, so she can look at him. 

“How you doing, Koko? You gave us quite a scare there.” 

Taako shrugs, careful not to disturb Kravitz. When Lup keeps looking at him expectantly, he replies, “You’re not getting a better answer than I don’t know, except from completely fucking exhausted.” He doesn’t have to consciously lower his voice for the sleeping people in the room, because he doesn’t think he could raise it above a whisper if he tried. “Nice save there, by the way,” 

“I try,” He feels her weary smile, even though she can’t physically emote. “I gotta make up for all those times I couldn't cover your ass somehow. Merle said you were physically fine, anyway, so we all decided to call it a day,” 

“You trusted  _ Merle _ with my physical well being? I could have been dying,” He doesn’t have the energy to put incredularity into his voice, doesn't even have the energy to keep his head angled down towards his sister, so lets it slide back into place on Kravitz’s shoulder.

Lup snorts, weakly, with laughter. Barry snorts in his sleep. Taako would have taken that as a compliment to his incredible dialogue, but Barold just does that. 

“Sleep, Taako. I’ll be here in the morning, you know,” 

He closes his eyes, and finds it rather easy to fall back into slumber. He doesn’t know whether the “Will you?” he’s thinking is voiced or not. 

  
  
  


When Taako wakes again, it’s less of a maze of limbs than the last time. He is missing his footrest, and his Boy, but not his headrest. He tilts his head, finding an awake Kravitz, who looks rather embarrassed that he has been discovered unwilling to move his sleeping boyfriend. 

“Morning, handsome,” Taako says, snaking his dead arm around Kravitz’s waist, him arching his back slightly to accommodate.

“Good morning, Taako,” Kravitz smiles down at him, then returns his gaze to where it had been before, the other side of the couch, where Lup’s gaunt bones stare him down. 

“I still can’t believe you two are dating,” She says in a way of explanation, then stands up from where she had been leaning over the arm. 

Lucretia is still curled up on the arm chair, this time a steaming cup of coffee cradled between her hands. She also has a blanket draped over her shoulders now, and a small smile on her face. Taako doesn’t make eye contact. 

“Kids successfully moved,” Magnus says, retreating from his room. “I didn’t even wake Ango up, so Merle owes me ten gold pieces -oh, welcome back to the land of the living, Taako.” he doesn’t raise his voice back to it’s normal level, drawing Taako’s attention to the fact that Dav is still dead to the world, now horizontal on the floor next to Lucretia’s chair, another blanket thrown over him and a pillow pushed under his head. 

Barry huffs a laugh from one of the stools beside the kitchen island, also with a cup of coffee in his hands. “Nice one, Mags,” Carey is once again in Killian’s lap, a couple stools down from him, both looking still half asleep, soft smiles on their faces.

“Where is Merle?” Taako asks, not properly awake yet. He pushes up from Kravitz’s side, who immediately readjusts his position, now free of his burden.  _ Cute, _ he thinks. He notices he has also been attacked by a mysterious blanket benefactor at some point, and pulls it up over his front. 

“Right here,” Merle speaks from behind the couch, holding two cups of coffee. Taako makes grabby hands at him, and Merle pretends to pass one to him, before swerving and handing it to Magnus. Taako makes an affronted sound, and Magnus passes the cup to him with a quiet laugh. 

“So, we saved the world,” Barry yawns.

“Apparently,” Lup responds, moving to sit down on the stool next to his. 

  
  


\--

  
  


They all crash at the HQ for a few weeks (or in some of their cases, months) while they figure out what the  _ hell _ they’re going to do now. Taako can’t  _ really _ wrap his head around the fact that the battle they had been fighting for almost 110 years is over.

Taako is in the room while Kravitz talks to Barry and Lup about their options as liches. He feels like he’s going to throw up, because  _ no way _ is he losing Lup again (and Barry too, of course), and he’s afraid - partially of the side of him that is so incredibly ready to throw down with his boyfriend over this. 

When Kravitz gets a missive, saying the three of them are invited for an audience with the Raven Queen, Taako feels even more like he’s going to throw up, bile settling at the back of his throat. he's sure his face must be green. 

  
  


When they return through a tear in the fabric of space, in the same state of not-in-an-eternal-prison as they were before, Lup tells him of the Raven Queen’s offer - Taako’s already shaking body breaks down, him slumping heavily against the wall he had been failing to lean nonchalantly against whilst waiting for them. When he gets a concerned look from Lup, he shrugs it off with a “I’ve got a bad leg now, Lulu. I’ve been hobbled, I've been humbled, and honestly, it’s going to take a lot of work from you two to get me to forgive liches as like, a concept.” 

Lup doesn’t look at all convinced, but it hadn’t been Taako’s finest performance. Now that he thought about it,  _ yeah,  _ his leg hurt like a bitch, so he limps to the couch, where Lup sits next to him.

He also has to pretend it isn’t  _ excruciating _ , the way Lup stares at his face, mapping out all the differences and inconsistencies, Taako having been too tired to re-apply his glamour. 

(Little does he know that Lup doesn’t give a  _ shit. _ What she does care about, is staring at her brother’s face after over a decade apart.)

  
  


\--

He has seen Ren quite a lot over the past few weeks, and is very carefully aloof when he mentions to her his ideas of opening a magic school. Ren is delighted, and Taako breathes slightly easier when she expresses her interest in helping out, coming to his door one day with a ‘job application’ and some incredibly intricate blueprints, and a bag of diamonds. Taako’s first thought is ‘ _ yeah, this’ll work.’ _

Merle’s getting a business set up with his kids,  _ Xtreme teen adventures, _ which Taako can’t help but snort at. Magnus is getting a cabin built  _ somewhere _ , along with his own school which, Taako can’t believe both of his best friends are stealing his idea. And it’s all being funded by Lucretia. 

Lucretia is a topic Taako is acursedly undecided on, even months after he regained his memories. He can’t- he can’t  _ look  _ at her without thinking of the fact that this woman is his sister in all but blood. Don’t get him wrong, Taako is about as good at holding grudges as he is at  _ everything _ else, but he makes eye contact with her and his heart melts. 

At one point, he stumbles, still unsure on his feet, (he’s planning on remaking the umbra staff not only to replace the other as a wand, but to  _ subtly _ use as a cane) Lucretia is the one there to catch him. In the split second he has, he makes a decision - he angles himself to crash into her in a hug, and squeezes. 

Lucretia is stunned out of breath for a second. Taako has acknowledged her a precious few times since the Day of Story and Song, and never made physical contact. 

Taako tries to force himself not to shake, and his voice not to wobble, but it doesn’t work. “I am  _ furious _ at you, Lucretia. I am so angry, but i’m also so tired, and although i’m awesome and can do anything i just don’t have it in me to do this anymore. I’m a long way away from forgiving you, but i’ve known you for a hundred damn years and that’s a lot longer than i expected when i met you, and i love you  _ so damn much _ . It’s gonna take time, but i’ll get there.” He’s forced his face into the shoulder of her coat, in a futile effort to muffle his words from the world completely. 

She presses her cheek into the side of his head, and Taako hears her tears in her breath. “Okay. Okay, Taako, i think i can live with that.” 

They cling to each other for a while. 

\--

It is a sunny afternoon, and almost everyone is together. Ren is talking to Taako about how construction is going. He’s designed his own house to sit just outside the school grounds, and it’s being built alongside the school. 

He overhears Magnus talking to Angus, from where he has given up asking Lucretia whether he can bring his new puppy Johann up onto the base (Taako knows Magnus is  _ very _ close to sneaking the dog up there, and so does Lucretia). “You know, i’ve got a lot of spare rooms in my house they’re building, and i wanted to let you know one of them’s always going to be yours,” 

Magnus has clapped a hand on his shoulder, and Angus looks up at him through his dirty glasses (Taako  _ needs _ to spend some time teaching him the glass polishing cantrip properly, because Angus is  _ apparently _ struggling with it, as proficient as he may be) and wobbles out a “Thank you, Sir,” with his eyes welling up.

“I know you’re gonna be spending a lot of time at Lucas’ fancy school, and you’ve already got a more permanent home, but it’ll be there whenever you want it,” 

Angus’ tears finally overflow, and he  _ whump _ s into Magnus, giving him the biggest hug his little body can manage, and repeats, “Thanks,” it turns out Magnus, and his giant body, is much better at giving big hugs than he is. 

After a minute. Merle walks up to them, looking slightly hesitant. Ren has stopped talking to Taako, pretending to try and find a specific piece of paper, knowing she’s not going to recapture his attention yet. Merle clears his throat, and says something Taako didn’t really see coming.

“There's, ah, always space at my house, too. I know Mavis and- and Mookie would love to see more of ya, and if you ever wanted to come on an  _ Xtreme Teen Adventure _ , especially now that you’re actually a teen,” Merle clears his voice again, clearly struggling to fill his sentences with words that aren’t mean to Angus, “We’d be happy to have you,”

Angus stands up to hug Merle and give his thanks  _ again, _ and Taako finds it hard not to laugh at the way Angus now completely towers over Merle. 

Ren ‘finds’ the right sheet of paper, blueprints for the second floor of his house, and tells him that construction of the main body is almost completely done, then showing him some pictures of the rooms. 

Taako calls Kravitz over first, finding his opinion - which is, as always, a happy affirmative and a peck to the cheek, despite Taako’s pretend  _ umm _ s and  _ ahh _ s over whether they  _ really _ followed their directions to a T. He then calls over Angus, waving one particular picture in his direction. “There’s your bedroom, Whiz kid, everything you ever imagined and more, so far?”

Angus smiles wide and nods.

He’d have to show Lup and Barry their rooms later, since they were off checking up on the progress of Lup’s new body. They had entertained the idea of them living separately for a very small amount of time, before deciding they hadn’t conquered the Hunger just to go and live hours away from each other. 

\--

  
  


The day Lup’s body wobbles out of the tank is one Taako will probably remember forever. It’s been seven months since the day of Story and Song, and Taako and Lup had spent a substantial amount of that time looking after, and eagerly waiting for, her growing body (which, conceptually, Taako doesn’t really like). 

Taako is ready with a towel (for the goop - ew) and a fresh set of clothes, and embraces his sister for the first time in what feels like eons, Barry also wrapping his arms around her. 

Just before Taako promises to never let her out of his sight again, she looks at Barry and says “I’m gonna smooch your fucking brains out, babe,” and yeah, Taako’s comfortable leaving them to it. 

\--

  
  


Taako, Kravitz, Lup, Barry, Angus and Ren’s house is completed, and it’s kind of everything Taako’s ever wanted, with his favourite people sweetening the deal. 

The rest of the birds all have keys, along with Carey and Killian, and Taako sincerely hopes they drop by often. 

All of the other birds also have designated rooms, with a couple more guestrooms piled on, but Taako knows there’s going to be some switching around with which room is who’s (Magnus and Merle had a very in depth argument about who should get one particular room, and Lucretia had been desperately eyeing Ren’s bedroom - which she might end up getting. Taako knows Ren designed some bedrooms in the school for them to crash in, and imagines she may spend a lot of her free time there). Taako is incredibly enthused by the fact they somehow managed to wrap an extremely extravagantly designed house in a cozy and modest exterior. 

And that’s not even mentioning the  _ kitchen _ . 

The garden and subsequent vegetable herb patch was one of Kravitz’s few requests for the house, and although somewhat surprised at his boyfriend’s apparent green thumb, Taako was more than happy to oblige. He loves him, after all.


End file.
